LAYLA'S HOME
"Cyprien." I spoke through my teeth as I grabbed both his arms. "I thought I told you to stay quiet."
"Who's this?" My aunt lowered the glasses off her eyes as she curiously watched Jimin.
"Aunt Maria, this is Jimin." I tried to lighten up the tension filled room. "Jimin, this is my aunt."
Jimin reached for her hand. "It's nice to meet y— ouch." He hissed when I slapped his arm.
"We don't do that here." I whispered loud enough for him to hear me.
"You could've told me that before." Jimin glared at me before staring up at my aunt as she cleared her throat.
"So Jimin." She circled around him. "Can you tell me why you're in my home?"
"Well—" He paused to think of a reason.
"He's from Mars University." I chimed in.
"I asked him." My aunt lowered her brows.
"Uh, I'm from Mars University, just like she said a second ago." Jimin quietly mumbled.
"Really?" She pursed her lips. "—and what do you study there?"
Jimin nearly choked, covering his hand over his mouth as he turned to me with a cautious look.
"I study—uh Uranus." He bit his bottom lip.
"Uranus?" She placed her hand on her hip.
"Made you say your anus." Jimin snorted under his breath. "Uh, anyways, we do all sorts of studies on Uranus and it's wonderful people."
"Uranus has been deserted for over two million years." My aunt lowered her brows.
"I guess you're right." Jimin looked over his shoulder, and I gave him a disgusted look.
"Jimin was actually gonna stay here for a couple nights, i-if that's okay with you." I stuttered.
"Don't you have a home?" She glanced at him.
"He lives in a space ship!" Cyprien mumbled, before I shoved him to the side.
I scrunched my nose as I heard him crash into a couple things. "Anyways." I returned with a smile.
"My parents were in a deadly space crash and I've been having trouble with paying for my classes at Mars University. I've only got a couple one dollar bills left." Jimin opened his wallet.
"What is that?" She narrowed her eyes as he held the green paper in his hands.
I tried to secretly nudge him in the ribs, but he was too busy bragging about his green piece of paper.
"It's something I like to call dinero." He smugly replied, before I snatched it from his hand.
"Hey—I need that." Jimin tried to reach for it.
"So." I hid the paper behind my back and smiled at my aunt. "Can he stay until he gets enough Marsi for a mud house?"
"Money." Jimin tried to correct me.
"It's Marsi." I spoke through my teeth.
"Right." Jimin elongated the word. "What she said."
"I guess." My aunt looked him up and down. "As long as he doesn't try to steal any of my pottery."
"I would never do that." Jimin laid his hand on her shoulder.
Big mistake.
I quickly pulled his hand down, and gave her a fake smile. "He suffers from this terrible disorder called stupidity."
"Oh, well I'm very sorry then." My aunt pouted, not having any clue what the word meant. "I'm sure you'll get better."
"Sadly, he has it forever." I pretended to seem emotional.
"Enough." Jimin muttered as he glared at me.
"I'll be outside, giving Jimin a tour." I pulled him by his jacket, making sure my skin didn't get anywhere near him.
"Have fun." My aunt muttered, before walking back into the outside garden.
"You over did it back there." Jimin frowned.
"Says the one who kept making gross jokes about Uranus." I crossed my arms as he followed me into the Villa.
"What?" Jimin shrugged his shoulders. "It's funny."
"No, it's immature." I stopped him. "Now, if we can stop arguing, I'd like to tell you a little more about this race."
"I thought you were giving me a tour?" Jimin raised his brow.
"I said that just so my aunt wouldn't be suspicious, as if she already wasn't." I loudly sighed.
"You never told me there was a no touching rule miss Layla." He tilted his head. "Wait, I've got an idea, and it's not that bad this time."
"Do I even wanna hear it?" I rolled my eyes.
"How about you—" Jimin pointed to my chest.
"Me?"
"—teach me how to be a Martian."
I gave him a blank stare before nearly dying from laughter. Jimin pushed his tongue against his cheek as he waited for me to finish.
"You, acting like a Martian?" I wiped the sweat off my forehead.
"I'd like to see you try to be a human." Jimin crossed his arms. "Then it won't be so funny, will it?"
"I would do a much better job at pretending to be human, than you would being a Martian." I scoffed.
"There's only one way to find out." Jimin licked his lips. "When I get my spaceship built, you can take a little visit to Earth."
"To that little self destructive planet, no thanks." I smiled, before walking away from him.
He followed after me, like I expected, and grabbed onto my arm.
"Hey!" I yanked my arm back. "What did I say about touching me."
"You touched me just a second ago."
"No I didn't."
"Yes you did."
"No." I shook my head.
"Yes." He elongated the word.
"When?"
"Hmm." He pretended to think. "When you slapped my hand like ten fucking times."
"That's different." I sighed. "You were touching someone else, so I was protecting them from you."
"Protecting?" He raised his brow. "What do you think I'm even capable of doing? I mean, look at me."
"I'm looking." My eyes glared up and down his body.
"Do you like what you see?" He smirked after trying to seductively wink.
"Not at all." I turned away, and once again, waited for him to follow me.
"I can learn fast." He tried convincing me. "If you just be patient with me, I'll act like a Martian in no time, believe me."
"I want to believe you Jimin, but this is too risky." I sighed. "I think you should just stay hidden until a day before the race."
"I disagree." He lowly mumbled, before stepping closer. "So if you want me to win this race for you, I'd change my mind."
"So now you're threatening me?" I raised a brow.
"Pretty much." He casually admitted.
"Fine." I groaned. "I'll take you to Mars University and get you enrolled as a new student."
"Sweet." Jimin gave me a satisfied smile. "Sure, my friends back on Earth attend Harvard and Yale, but ya boi is going to Mars University."
"Glad you're enjoying yourself." I gave him a forced smile before looking up at the sky.
"Let me show you where you'll sleep." I looked over at Jimin, catching his attention.
He followed me back into my house, where I walked him toward one of the spare rooms. The bedrooms actually had a roof on them, unlike the other parts of the house. It's too bad, he wanted to see the stars.
"This is your room for now." I held the door open, and let him walk inside.
"Layla, wait." He called out, just as I was leaving the room.
"Yes human?" I glanced into his eyes.
"Thank you for letting me stay here." He barely whispered.
"Don't thank me, I'd do this for anyone." I gave him a reassuring nod before finally leaving him to sleep.